Sacred Space in Cyber Space

This fall I had the honor of sharing an article through Yale Divinity School’s journal Reflections about my work in Second Life.  Here is how I began that piece:

"We have all known the long loneliness, and we have found that the answer is community."

– Dorothy Day

I have the best job in the world because I get to meet that long loneliness with a new kind of community.

I am the Circuit Rider for The Beatitudes Society, but my tools are quite different than the well-worn saddle and leather-bound Bibles of my forebears. My tools are the currency of the online world – Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Second Life.  I enlist online resources that help clergy learn and act on pressing social issues and give them online places to meet and talk with other progressive faith leaders.

My article goes on to explore the other way I have been called to serve - I am also the pastor serving a congregation that has been meeting for three years - solely online in Second Life.  We’ve been gathering for worship, study and fellowship now for three years at Koinonia Church in Second Life.  In recent weeks I’ve also been blessed to take part in some energizing conversations about the “validity” of online church.  In my experiece I have seen lives changed, minds opened, and Christ welcomed into hearts long ago shut down by a church that has often been the source of pain for many.

In the next few posts I would like to explore the impact of social media on our culture and how the church can participate in faithful ways in this new frontier.  

Let’s begin our exploration with this article about Serene Jones, Union Seminary president, take on social media - Click here to read:

"New media will change the church profoundly,ӬUnion Seminary president tells communicators"

Please come back by and share your thoughts.  There are many questions as yet unanswerd, many not even asked, that I am interested in engaging.